<p>Maraging steels combine superior mechanical properties like fracture toughness and ultimate tensile strength and hence extensively used in industries like tool and die-making, aerospace, automotive etc. Despite superior mechanical properties, these steels possess low abrasive wear resistance, low fatigue strength, and limited resistance to corrosion. Nitriding is a surface treatment process which is capable of production of a modified surface layer which can eliminate these drawbacks. In this work, specimens of maraging steel 18Ni-250 were subjected to plasma nitriding treatment. Before nitriding specimens were subjected to a novel heat treatment procedure which involved thermal cycling treatment (TCT). TCT was carried out after solution annealing and before aging/nitriding of the steel. Specimens of maraging steel were subjected to three cycles of TCT. After each TCT, specimens were subjected to plasma nitriding treatment. Plasma nitriding treatment was conducted at 480&#xa0;°C for 8&#xa0;hrs so that nitriding and aging of maraging steel could take place simultaneously. The objective of TCT was to enhance kinetics of nitriding as well as aging process. The surface characterization of specimens was done by using EBSD, XRD, and microhardness traverse. The employed heat treatment cycle drastically cut down the time duration required for precipitation hardening as well as nitriding of maraging steels 18Ni-250. Surface hardness, effective case depth, and magnitude of compressive residual stresses formed after nitriding observed to be higher than conventional nitriding of the maraging steel. Surface hardness values improved by 56 to 120 HV_0.1 for specimen nitrided after TCT as compared to specimens conventionally nitrided after solution annealing. Similarly, effective case depth after nitriding improved by 10 to 70&#xa0;µm for the specimens nitrided after TCT as compared to specimens conventionally nitrided after solution annealing.</p>